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The company鈥檚 current offering is a pitch-perfect production of Itamar Moses鈥� frothy, fugue-ish farce, 鈥淏ach at Leipzig.鈥�

A strong ensemble took us to 1722 Leipzig, Germany. The organist at the famed Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) has died suddenly and many are vying for the primo position.

And almost all of them are willing to lie, cheat and steal to get it.

Moses has written a play that is packed with rich words and not many ideas 鈥� but ideas aren鈥檛 the motive here; laughter is.

And oh, there is a lot of it.

It starts with the wonderfully outrageous wigs and costumes, which smack of the era and are just over-the-top enough to add some visual humor.

And when the first line is spoken 鈥� 鈥淢y darling Anna: By the time you receive this letter I will have sent it鈥� 鈥� we know we are in for lots of ridiculousness.

Now, ridiculousness can get tedious, but this cast 鈥� one of the best ensembles we鈥檝e seen on the Rogue鈥檚 stage 鈥� would have none of that.

They threw themselves into the characters 鈥� all actual people hoping to score the job that J.S. Bach eventually got, although Moses has completely made up the story.

Michael Bailey, Hunter Hnat, Ryan Parker Knox, Joseph McGrath, Matt Walley and David Weynand played the musicians with great seriousness, which added, of course, to the humor. Bailey has been a stand-up comic and put his keen timing to good use as the often-befuddled Georg Friedrich Kaufmann, a character he made you love. Hnat was the perfect fop as Johann Martin Steindorff; Knox鈥檚 frustration was palpable as the too-often-dismissed Georg Balthasar Schott; McGrath鈥檚 Johann Friedrich Fasch was deliciously arrogant but remained tenderhearted; Matt Walley鈥檚 pickpocketing Georg Lenck was spot on, and David Weynand was sublime as Johann Christoph Graupner, a neurotic who just wants to be everyone鈥檚 No. 1 choice. Holly Griffith has a wordless role as The Greatest Organist in Germany, and she carries herself with an I-am-better-than-you dignity in her few appearances.

Cynthia Meier directed with a visual eye and an obvious love of the material. She shaped a play that was pure joy to watch.

鈥淏ach at Leipzig鈥� is sometimes too contrived for its own good 鈥� it鈥檚 fugue-like in the way it is structured, and there鈥檚 a wonderful discussion of Moliere and what makes good theater that is very funny and a bit like the playwright saying 鈥渙h, aren鈥檛 I clever?鈥�

But we don鈥檛 care. This wordy piece is good old fashioned fun. The Rogue doesn鈥檛 indulge in that very often. 鈥淏ach at Leipzig鈥� makes us think it should do at least one cut-loose play a season. This play is proof that the company can do that better than most.